“If you are saying I can be bought for $5,000, I am offended,” Perry said, citing the size of a Merck campaign check three months before his February, 2007, order, which would have netted the pharmaceutical company millions in sales had it not been rescinded after a firestorm of resistance in the Texas Legislature.

But Texas Ethics Commission records show he has accepted $29,500 from the Merck PAC during his entire tenure as governor, $22,000 of it prior to his 2007 order. In addition, Toomey, who served in the Texas House with Perry and later as his chief of staff, has contributed more than $48,000 to Texans for Rick Perry during his decade in office.

Furthermore, Texans for Public Justice reported Tuesday that Merck has contributed $377,500 to the Republican Governor’s Association PAC since 2006 – the year that Perry became heavily involved in the organization. (He has chaired it twice since then, resigning his most recent chairmanship in July to run for president.) The RGA is Perry’s largest contributor, at $4 million during his tenure as governor.

Bachmann slammed Perry by saying that Merck stood to make millions of dollars from Perry’s order, noting that its “chief lobbyist” was Perry’s former chief of staff and that the company gave Perry “thousands of dollars” in campaign contributions. “This is just flat out wrong. Was it about life or about millions of dollars to a drug company?” she asked.

When Perry responded that he was “offended,” Bachman stood her ground, saying she was offended on behalf of Texas girls who would have had to take the vaccine had Perry’s order not been rescinded.